Heritage Bikes

Bicycles and tricycles have been around for more than 150 years and to ride an antique style of machine is as close as it gets to sharing an experience with our ancestors.

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Riding and restoring old bicycles attracts cycling enthusiasts with a particular interest in history, or who just get a kick out of being different. The most iconic heritage bike is of course the ordinary or high bicycle, more commonly known as a penny farthing. It is a truly great experience to ride up there, one really does feel like a king of the road and appreciates the literal truth in the saying that the higher they are, the harder they fall!

But the days when interesting old bikes could be found abandoned and forgotten or bought for a song, are long gone. So great is the demand for a taste of history, that one can now also buy rideable replicas of the bikes our great grandfathers rode. One of the best sources of reproduction cycles is the Czech firm Mesicek[2].

CTC can help with the practical problems of getting an old bike back on the road, but authentic restoration is a more specialised matter, for which you should seek the advice of fellow collectors in the Veteran Cycle Club[3]. The club organises regular cycle jumbles where sellers sell both vintage and collectible machines, as well as many spare parts for them along with a wide range of memorabilia and accessories.